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margin:0 0 10px 10px; float:right;"> <form action="/wiki/Special:SearchPages" method="POST" style="margin-bottom: 0px;"> <a href="/wiki/Special:SearchPages" title="Click here for our main help search page">Search</a> WikiTree's <a href="/wiki/Category:WikiTree_Help" title="Click here to browse WikiTree's help pages instead of searching them">help pages</a>:<br/> <input type="text" name="keywords" size="25" placeholder="Help page keywords" value="" style="width:200px;"/> <input type="submit" name="pageSearch" value="Go"/> </form> </div> <p>Categories: <span dir='ltr'><a href="/wiki/Category:WikiTree_Help" title="Category:WikiTree Help">WikiTree Help</a></span> | <span dir='ltr'><a href="/wiki/Category:Navigation_Help" title="Category:Navigation Help">Navigation Help</a></span></p> <div>Language: <strong class="selflink">en</strong> | <a href="/wiki/Help:De:Beitr%C3%A4ge_zu_Nachnamen" title="Help:De:Beitr盲ge zu Nachnamen">de</a> | <a href="/wiki/Help:Fr:Contributions_par_Nom_de_Famille" title="Help:Fr:Contributions par Nom de Famille">fr</a></div> <p><span id="summary" class="large">Our <a href="/wiki/Special:SurnameContributions" title="Special:SurnameContributions">Surname Contributions</a> page enables you to browse ...</span> </p> <ol><li> <b><a href="/wiki/Special:SurnameContributions" title="Special:SurnameContributions">top surnames</a></b> — the surnames with the most activity — for every month and year </li><li> <b><a href="https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Special:SurnameContributions&tu=1" class="external text" title="https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Special:SurnameContributions&tu=1" rel="nofollow">top contributors</a></b> for every month and year </li><li> <b>top contributors to any given surname</b> e.g. <a href="https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Special:SurnameContributions&s=Smith" class="external text" title="https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Special:SurnameContributions&s=Smith" rel="nofollow">Top Smith Contributors</a> </li><li> <b>top surnames for any given member</b> e.g. <a href="https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Special:SurnameContributions&u=2382917" class="external text" title="https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Special:SurnameContributions&u=2382917" rel="nofollow">Top Surname Contributions for Abby Glann</a> </li></ol> <table id="toc" class="toc" summary="Contents"><tr><td><div id="toctitle"><h2>Contents</h2></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#What_are_Surname_Contributions.3F"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">What are Surname Contributions?</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Why_are_contributions_counted.3F"><span class="tocnumber">1.1</span> <span class="toctext">Why are contributions counted?</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#The_fine_print_on_how_they_are_counted"><span class="tocnumber">1.2</span> <span class="toctext">The fine print on how they are counted</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Year-to-date_counts"><span class="tocnumber">1.3</span> <span class="toctext">Year-to-date counts</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#How_to_View_Surname_Contributions"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">How to View Surname Contributions</span></a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </td></tr></table><script type="text/javascript">if(window.showTocToggle){var tocShowText="show";var tocHideText="hide";showTocToggle();}</script> <a name="What_are_Surname_Contributions.3F"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline"> What are Surname Contributions? </span></h2> <p>Elsewhere on WikiTree your "contribution count" — the one you see on your profile — is simply the sum of <a href="/wiki/Special:Contributions" title="Special:Contributions">all your recorded contributions</a>. Every <a href="/wiki/Help:Changes" title="Help:Changes">tracked change</a> that appears in <a href="/wiki/Help:Activity_Feeds" title="Help:Activity Feeds">activity feeds</a> is one contribution. We use these simple counts to award monthly <a href="/wiki/Help:Badges_and_Points#Contribution_Counts_and_Club_Badges" title="Help:Badges and Points">Club 100/1000 badges</a>. </p><p>The way we count "surname contributions" is different. This is the <b>number of profiles</b> with a given surname to which you have contributed during a given month or year. </p><p>For example, let's say you made: </p> <ul><li> 10 contributions to Alex Smith's profile, </li><li> 10 contributions to Beverly (Smith) Jones' profile, and </li><li> 10 contributions to Chris Smith's profile. </li></ul> <p>The count here would be three, not 30. Contributing to three Smith profiles over the course of a month equals <b>three Smith contributions for the month</b>. </p><p>Contributing to these same three Smith profiles over the course of a year, even if you edit them hundreds of times, equals <b>three Smith contributions for the year</b>. </p> <a name="Why_are_contributions_counted.3F"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline"> Why are contributions counted? </span></h3> <p>This almost goes without saying: <b>contribution counts are not a measure of value.</b> There is no objective way to count the true value of what members contribute to our shared family history. Some members make thousands of small but worthwhile contributions to lots of different profiles. Some members focus on hard research and creative writing and make fewer edits. </p><p>Everything contributed by our members is appreciated. So why count anything? </p><p>Although imperfect, we think that counting contributions can encourage participation and community collaboration. It may bring your attention to other members who are contributing to the same surnames as you. </p><p>Not all members will be interested in contribution counts. <b>If they don't interest you, please try to ignore them.</b> </p> <a name="The_fine_print_on_how_they_are_counted"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline"> The fine print on how they are counted </span></h3> <p>To clarify <b>which surname</b> for which a contribution is counted: </p> <ul><li> Edits count for the <a href="/wiki/Help:Name_Fields#Last_Name_at_Birth" title="Help:Name Fields">Last Name at Birth</a>. For example, an edit to Mary (Smith) Jones will count for Smith only. Current Last Names and Other Last Names are not considered. </li><li> Edits to relationships between profiles are counted for both profiles' surnames. For example, if you add Mary Smith as the wife of John Jones it will count for Jones and Smith. </li></ul> <p><b>Profile <a href="/wiki/Help:Merging" title="Help:Merging">merges</a> and Last Name at Birth changes</b> add some special complications: </p> <ul><li> Edits count for the Last Name at Birth that a profile had at the time it was edited. </li><li> Until two profiles are merged, edits are counted as edits to two separate profiles. </li><li> Proposing merges and merging profiles count as edits to two separate profiles. </li><li> When a member merges their account profile into an existing profile or changes their Last Name at Birth the counts made under their previous account will be transferred to their current account. </li></ul> <p>There are some <b>exceptions to what we count</b>. The following are tracked in activity feeds but not counted as surname contributions: </p> <ul><li> Adding, editing, or removing <b>comments</b> on profiles. </li><li> Asking and answering <b>questions</b> about a person in our <a href="https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/" class="external text" title="https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/" rel="nofollow">G2G</a> forum. </li><li> Changes to the <b>profile manager</b> (adding or removing a manager). </li><li> Creating <b>unmerged matches</b> and rejecting or removing matches. </li></ul> <p>Also note: </p> <ul><li> Editing your own profile is counted the same as any other edit. </li><li> Creating a new profile is counted once, the same as any other edit. However, when you create a new person as a family member of another person this can count as two edits: one for the new profile, and one for the relationship edit to the existing profile. </li><li> Edits made by <a href="/wiki/Help:Project_Accounts" title="Help:Project Accounts">Project Accounts</a> and other WikiTree administration accounts are not counted. </li><li> Edits made to free-space profiles are not counted, even when they are tagged with surnames. </li><li> Edits to profiles with the surname placeholder "Unknown" are counted but Unknown will not appear in the <a href="/wiki/Special:SurnameContributions" title="Special:SurnameContributions">main Top Surnames view</a>. Unknown will appear in all other views, and no other surnames (Anonymous, X, etc.) are skipped anywhere. </li></ul> <a name="Year-to-date_counts"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline"> Year-to-date counts </span></h3> <p>We are counting by month and year, and we are also doing year-to-date (YTD) counts. </p><p>YTD counts are recalculated at the beginning of every month. On February 1, the January and YTD counts are the same. On March 1, the YTD counts encompass January and February. On April 1, the counts encompass January to March, etc. The final counts for a year are calculated on January 1 of the following year. </p><p>Note that YTD counts are not the same as the sum of the monthly counts. The YTD counts are calculated in the same way that yearly counts are calculated. Edits to the same profiles in different months are only counted once. </p> <a name="How_to_View_Surname_Contributions"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline"> How to View Surname Contributions </span></h2> <p>To see the surnames with the most contributions in the previous month, click to <a href="/wiki/Special:SurnameContributions" title="Special:SurnameContributions">Special:SurnameContributions</a>. </p><p>You can also access surname contribution lists from: </p> <ul><li> The top surnames section at the bottom of the main <a href="https://www.wikitree.com/" class="external text" title="https://www.wikitree.com/" rel="nofollow">WikiTree home page</a>. </li><li> Your "My WikiTree" <a href="/wiki/Help:Pull-Down_Menus" title="Help:Pull-Down Menus">pull-down menu</a>. It's linked as "Tops." </li><li> Genealogist index pages, e.g. <a href="https://www.wikitree.com/genealogists/SMITH" class="external text" title="https://www.wikitree.com/genealogists/SMITH" rel="nofollow">Smith Genealogists</a>. </li><li> Members' own profile pages. </li></ul> <p>On the various <a href="/wiki/Special:SurnameContributions" title="Special:SurnameContributions">Surname Contributions</a> views, you will see <b>tabs</b> near the top of the page for "By Year" and "By Month" to switch between annual and monthly views. </p><p>The top surnames will appear with their top contributors for the period. If you click the <b>list icon</b> <img src="https://www.wikitree.com/images/icons/top-list.png.pagespeed.ce.0wder3BjbA.png" alt="top-list.png" class="scale-with-grid"/> next to a member's name you will see their top surname contributions. </p><p>If you click a number next to a members' name you will see their contributions to the surname. Note that you may see contributions which were not counted. This activity feed does not filter out contributions that don't count as surname contributions (see the exceptions to what is counted above) or edits to the same profiles. </p> <br/><br/> <p class="small" align="center"> This page was last modified 15:54, 10 January 2024. 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